The Kiwi influence

When Scotland is playing rugby well it can make all the difference for John Scott at Hill of Fearn.

SCOTLAND STARTED OFF this season’s six nations in fine form, dispatching the auld enemy on their home patch and pummeling Wales in Edinburgh, which gave us Scotland supporters a little hope which is a dangerous thing.

Beating England certainly put a spring in our steps as it usually does, but making it two in a row against Wales brought new confidence.

Next stop Paris, and our brand of ‘Rip Shit or Bust’ rugby wasn’t quite enough to overcome France, the number two side in the world – the 19-0 head start was maybe over-generous but wow did we play! Ireland were too strong for us. We should have taken our chances and will need to find another gear or two for our world cup pool match.

Throughout my farming career, the six nations has had the ability to make a huge difference to my spring. If Scotland is competing well and getting the odd win, anything’s possible, but unfortunately the opposite applies too.

Anyway, credit must be given to coach Gregor Townsend who should be given a contract extension, assuming Scott Robertson would rather take the All Blacks job, assuming the NZRFU eventually get round to giving it to him.

Credit should also be given to Marc Gasoigne who recently joined us for a tour of Scotland, talking about Farmstrong NZ and how it helped him change his life following years of depression. He watched the first match in a pub surrounded by Scots and the second match in Orkney at their rugby club, and we reckoned he was a lucky charm, and despite becoming addicted to haggis and whisky (he had one of them every day) he departed before the French match and we started losing!

As some of you may know, we have been working hard over the past couple of years to bring Farmstrong to Scotland and with the help from Gerard Vaughn and the New Zealand team we are close to launching. To raise awareness further, Marc, a dairy farmer from Hamilton, came across and spoke to more than 1000 people over 12 events, including the National Farmers Union conference, and he had a huge impact.

As chairperson, I had the honour of joining Marc for the second half of the tour and listened with audiences in Glasgow, Orkney, Thurso, Dingwall, Oban and Stirling, and on each occasion you could hear a pin drop when he was talking.

He connected with farmers and crofters on their level, which is hard to do at the best of times, but when you’re talking about such a personal experience it takes real guts, which Marc displayed every time he took to the stage.

Questions varied, but the common theme was the discussions afterwards in smaller groups and on a one-to-one basis. It’s hard to quantify quite how big an impact has been made, but Farmstrong Scotland is on everyone’s lips following the tour.

Thank you Marc. You have made many friends over here, inspiring us all to think about wellbeing and how we look after ourselves and each other.

With son James still in NZ and some of our full-time staff moving on to new challenges we have drafted in extra cover for lambing and calving, which will complement our young team who are thriving with extra responsibility. I continue to be impressed by the capability of our team. Our average age at the moment is just short of 21 and they are absolutely flying!

Included in this group are three Kiwis (two more to come) on their OE and it’s great to have them back again – they are good banter and always keen to get stuck in with whatever’s happening.

Finally, a shout out to everyone in NZ who’s suffered due to the cyclone. We have been following things on social media and being with Marc as it happened, I was kept fully up to speed. Hopefully the damage to farms and homes is being repaired where possible and our thoughts are with you.